


Outtakes

by tmtcltb



Category: The Last Ship (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:42:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26663875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tmtcltb/pseuds/tmtcltb
Summary: Some "outtakes" from Once in Forever.
Relationships: Kara Foster/Danny Green
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This relates to Chapter 3 of Once in Forever

"Well, he's fucked." Val said, tossing down the facsimile that Kara had received thirty minutes earlier. "American Navy Commander caught on camera in the middle of butt-fuck nowhere doing shit that clearly has nothing to do with boats or water. Doesn't take a genius to figure out that he's there to overthrow the government. I mean, they're probably going to think CIA rather than Naval Intelligence but not like there's really a difference anymore."

Val's description of the scenario might be apt, but Kara had forgotten how annoying the computer programmer could be. "Danny wasn't there to overthrow the government," she corrected, pacing back and forth across her office.

"Why was Green there then?" Val asked, leaning forward, elbows on knees.

Kara gave her a look. Val might be useful enough, and dangerous enough, for the Navy to have hired her as a consultant at an exorbitant salary, but nobody was naïve enough to actually give her a security clearance.

"There was a Vargas sighting." When Kara narrowed her eyes, Val gave an exaggerated sigh. "Again, doesn't take a genius."

Deciding that getting into a debate over the fact that Val _was_ a genius and therefore really couldn't say what a _non-genius_ could or couldn't figure out, Kara went back to pacing. "So how do we fix it?"

Alisha picked that moment to enter. "What's going on?"

"Green blew his cover," Val announced. "So obviously Foster's freaking out."

"That's not what happened," Kara snapped. She picked up the draft newspaper article, before slapping it back down. Neither she nor Alisha read Portuguese, the reason Kara had called Val in the first place, knowing that the woman was fluent in an astonishing number of languages. A move that she was now seriously regretting. "There has to be a way to spin this."

Alisha exchanged a look with Val, their unspoken communication annoying Kara more because she could tell that they were about to humor her. "Sweetie, covers get blown. It happens. He'll transfer back stateside to a nice cushy desk job for a year or two before he retires and goes contract like Tex. Danny's got to be close to twenty years in at this point."

Kara swallowed. Alisha was right. Of course she was, everything she said was true. And objectively it all sounded good.

_Except that it was absolutely not what Danny wanted._

Danny had never hidden the fact that riding a desk was his definition of hell. On the Nathan James, he and Slattery used to laugh about it. How going home in a box was preferable to becoming a desk jockey. Back when such jokes were still funny, before the likelihood of dying became all too real. But some things didn't change. Kara could still picture Danny's face after the Nathan James rescued the team during that FUBAR mission in Costa Rico.

_Sidelining Danny now, when there was still so much that needed to be done, would kill him._

"Only sixteen. That's at least four years at a desk. He would hate it. You know he would hate it." Kara stopped, picking up the paper and shoving it at Val. "Translate, please."

Kara resumed pacing while Val read, listening intently. When Val finished, Kara considered the article. "That isn't actually too bad."

"It's the fact that Danny was in Columbia in the first place that is the problem," Alisha replied, dubiously.

"On vacation," Kara asserted.

"In a war zone?" Val snorted.

"It doesn't say that in the article," Kara pointed out.

Val was now the one pacing. "Anyone who isn't an idiot knows that the Colombian government never rebuilt after Tavo's coup. The entire region is in turmoil. President Gomez is nothing more than a figurehead."

"True, but at least some of the regional governors are stable," Kara pressed. "You're telling me that there are no resorts within driving distance of Tunja?"

There it was again, Alisha giving Val that look. After a moment, Val spoke. "There might be one in Medellin."

"So he was there on vacation with his girlfriend. Got lost looking for..." Kara twirled her hand.

"Coffee," Val added reluctantly. "The area is known for its coffee."

Kara nodded, chewing on her nail as she spun the story. "Looking for local coffee to bring home as gifts. Support the economy. Spread dollars. _American dollars._ He got lost and then the landslide happened. He stopped and helped. He's a hero. Not a spy."

"It's thin," Alisha said, somewhat doubtfully.

"We pump up his past on the Nathan James. Release his official file. Make a point of saying that the leave was personal. What else would help?" Kara didn't really expect an answer, but Val threw one in anyway.

"A picture."

"What?"

"A picture would help." Val said impatiently. "Half the population never actually reads an article. They look at the headline and any pictures. That's it."

"She has a point," Alisha noted.

Val rapped her finger against the desk. "So, do you have one of him and Laura?"

Both Kara and Alisha stared at Val until it apparently occurred to the woman that Kara was unlikely to have a picture of her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend hanging around. Val pulled out her laptop. "Let me see what I can find..."

Fifteen minutes later, Kara was staring at a picture of Danny and Laura in swimsuits, cocktails in hand. If she hadn't been well aware of what Danny looked like under his uniform, she would never have guessed that the picture was a fake. As for Laura, it was amazing how an innocent photo of a teacher sitting near her desk drinking coffee could be transformed.

Kara shook her head. "There are times when you scare me."

Val shrugged. "I may be a genius but only an idiot would believe this story."

"Maybe. Maybe not." Kara pulled out her phone.

"Who are you calling?" Alisha demanded.

"Jacob Barnes," Kara replied.

"You're calling a reporter?" Val's mouth dropped.

"The same reporter you claimed that you would never talk to again after he ditched you at that biker bar in the middle of nowhere and you had to call Carlton to come pick you up?" Alisha added.

"Who better to write a fake article than a real reporter?" Kara asked, shrugging. Jacob might be only somewhat above a parasite on the food chain, but she kind of liked him. Not enough to sleep with him, of course, but enough to tolerate another evening at a dive bar. And this time she would drive herself. "Besides, Barnes owes me."

Alisha shook her head, moving towards the door. "Barnes doesn't work that way, Kara. You know he's going demand something before he agrees to help."

"Probably another date," Val added, smirking. "You know, seeing how well the last one went."

"That wasn't a date," Kara argued, although she knew it was pointless. 

Alisha turned to stare at Kara for a long moment. Finally she sighed. "I hope that you know what you are doing, Kara."

"I do," Kara replied, phone to ear, watching as Alisha and Val left. "Hi, Jacob? It's Kara. Yeah, it's been a while..."

_Whatever the cost, Danny was worth it._


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - I wrote this scene for background while I was working on Chapter 5 of Once in Forever. If you have not read that, I suggest you do so first. Since that story is being told from Kara's perspective, this doesn't fit, but MKS57 asked about Danny's perspective so ... here you go. A glimpse into his world. This is set prior to the Nathan James leaving Mayfair for Brazil. xoxo - tmtcltb
> 
> A/N2 - also, yes, I've been busy posting the last few days. This is because two of the under eighteen members of my household returned to school for the first time in six months (yeah). Unfortunately, my two-year-old can now open "childproof" bottles (childproof, my a***). Anyway, do not expect this schedule to continue. :)

Jogging up the stairs to his condo, Danny was surprised to see light spilling out from the windows. While he and Tex did have plans to watch the baseball game tonight, it didn't start for another two hours. Not that such a technicality ever seemed to stop the cowboy from doing exactly as he pleased.

Swinging the door open, Danny dropped his gym bag on the bench next to a grocery bag. "You better not have finished all my beer."

"I haven't," responded a distinctively female voice.

Not Tex, then, but Laura. A bit of a surprise there. Although Laura had her own key, she never entered his place uninvited, reserving its use to times when Danny was either running late and asked her to wait or when she needed to grab something for him.

Making his way to the kitchen, Danny paused in the doorway. Laura was at the table, a glass of rose in front of her, as put together as always. She was wearing one of those frilly blouses that he liked, hair pulled back into a sleek ponytail, small golden hoops dangling from her ears. Definitely a contrast to the PT gear that he had worn home, figuring that there was plenty of time to grab a shower and throw on some sweats before Tex arrived with take-out and beer. "Did I get the dates mixed up? I didn't remember that we made plans."

"No, you didn't forget anything." She looked at him oddly. "I was hoping to talk for a minute. Do you have time?"

He found himself strangely irritated by both the question and her presence. That wasn't the type of relationship they had, after all, the kind where you knew where the other person was at all times. Where you cleared plans in advance. Where you popped by unannounced. Laura was, had always been, respectful of his time, his space, the fact that he could tell her little about his day-to-day work. And he done the same.

Still, Danny imagined that this was a glimpse of things to come. After all, most married couples did live together. Strange how he never considered that fact, assuming that they would go forward the same way that they were now, living their own lives. But wasn't that the point of proposing? To change things up, move forward, finally leave the past in the past?

He grabbed a beer from the fridge before turning a kitchen chair to sit across the table from Laura. "Of course. Tex is coming for the game in a bit. Andrea is a Yankee fan and refuses to have him in the house when they play the Red Sox."

That drew a real smile from Laura, apparently breaking through her preoccupation. "They have an interesting relationship."

"Lord knows why Andrea puts up with him." Danny replied. In reality, Tex and Andrea had always made sense to him. What they went through together, both on the Nathan James and then later, had clearly bonded them. Tex intuitively seemed to understand what Andrea needed from him - even if that meant she needed space. Maybe if Danny could have managed that balancing act, knowing when to push and when to step back, his life would be very different right now. He pushed away a pang of regret, focusing on Laura. "So what's going on? Do you want me to cancel on Tex? Carlton would probably take pity on him."

But Laura continued to fiddle with her glass. "What about Kara? I recall you mentioning that she's also a die-hard Red Sox fan."

Danny considered the woman sitting across from him, puzzled by the question. She knew plenty about Kara, of course, having been around for more than a few drunken episodes where Danny poured his heart out. But he never remembered Laura bringing up her name like this. Tonight was, indeed, a night of firsts. He wasn't sure that he liked it. "Kara's probably still at command. Besides, she only has a thirty inch screen."

_Shit_. He probably shouldn't have said that, a clear admission of how intimately he knew Kara's apartment. He needed to start treating Laura less like a therapist and more like a girlfriend. But Laura didn't seem to notice his slip, lifting her glass but not taking a drink. "Working on the joint project that you mentioned?"

"Yes." There was no point denying it. After all, Laura needed to be prepared for the likelihood of pictures of Danny and Kara hitting the press, as well as the possibility of more. As far as Danny knew, information about their past had never been leaked, the Nathan James crew remaining incredibly tight-lipped about everything that happened during those horrifying months, but that didn't mean it wouldn't be. Again he kicked himself for making that idiotic offer. But even as he cursed himself, Danny knew that given the opportunity, he would do the same thing again and again.

_Because it was the only way to make sure that Kara was safe._

Sending her in alone, even with a security detail, was just too risky. Vargas was an unknown, managing to keep to the shadows for far too long, and Danny didn't trust Cooper's source entirely. If it was just him, sure, but not when Kara's life was in the balance. Posing as Kara's escort was the only way to make sure he was there if it all went to hell.

Laura swirled her wine again before sighing, setting down her glass and propping her head in her hands. "No reason to cancel on Tex. This shouldn't take long anyway."

"Okay."

"I've been thinking about what Courtney said last weekend, at the anniversary dinner," Laura explained. "About how hard the event is for Rick. How it stirs up a lot of memories."

Danny's eyes closed, fighting the lump in his throat. "Yeah. It does for all of us."

"But it's different for you and Kara, isn't it?" Laura pressed on. "It's not just about the vaccine trial or the Red Flu. It's about the baby."

He turned, staring out the window, taking a slug of his beer. Laura was only half right. Sure, losing the baby had been horrible. Possibly the worst thing that happened to him in his life - and that was saying something. But Laura was also wrong. It wasn't about the baby at all. It was about Kara. Because he knew that was the moment when everything changed.

_When he had lost her._

And he had missed it. Too wrapped up in his own shit to see what she needed until it was too late. He grimaced. There was no way to distinguish between them, to say that this moment of loss was for the baby and that moment of sorrow was about Kara, the two so entwinned in his mind that he couldn't consider one without the other. "Like you said. It brings up a lot of stuff."

"I didn't really understand, before," Laura continued. "That's why you go to these things. Why you flew ten hours from Bolivia and then turned around and went to a ball the same night. It's not because Admiral Chandler told you show up or because the President was there. It's to be there for Kara. Even though she avoids you all night."

That stung, even if it was true. All he wanted to do was see Kara and, apparently, all she wanted was the opposite. "That's part of it."

"Don't lie to me, Danny." Laura's voice was soft, but determined. "We've always been honest with each other. Don't change that now."

He was getting angry at the prying. "Fine. Kara blames herself. Thinks that she should have known that she was pregnant and that's the miscarriage was her fault. So, yeah, I don't want her to be stuck there alone. Thinking about ... that. So I go. Even knowing that I make it worse, I just can't not go."

"You're an idiot, Danny." Laura shook her head, standing up, pacing across the kitchen. "An idiot! If I saw Anwar tonight, found out that he was alive, I wouldn't care about anything except him. I wouldn't care about all those stupid fights we had. I wouldn't care where he was for the past five years. I would grab him and never let him out of my sight again. But I can't do any that. _Because he's dead!"_

Danny blinked at the abrupt change in the conversation, then nodded, Laura's appearance here tonight now making sense. He wasn't sure what had triggered her but this he understood. This he could handle. This, after all, was what had drawn him and Laura together. _Shared loss._ He pulled out his phone. "I'll call Tex, tell him that we're going out and..."

"No. This isn't about Anwar." The words were calm, but firm, Laura back in control. Danny turned to look at her. Trying to understand. "Anwar is dead. I loved him, I still love him, but he's gone. There is no present, no future for him, _for us_. But Kara, she's not dead. And she's very much part of your present. She could be part of your future, too, Danny. I don't think I really got that before, the fact that you still have a chance to make things work with Kara."

Danny felt a sharp pain in his chest, followed by immediate frustration. Laura clearly didn't understand. "Kara can barely stand being in the same room as me. Whatever we had, it's over."

"Do you know what the opposite of love is, Danny?" Laura demanded, tapping her foot.

Sometimes he really disliked dating a teacher. "I don't know. Hate?"

"No, it's indifference. And I can tell you that Kara is anything but indifferent to you. For all you know she's out there having this exact same conversation right now! So why are you sitting here with me when you could be over there working things out with her?"

"I can't..."

But Laura cut him off. "You've seen me at my worst, Danny. My rock-bottom. And I have no idea where I would be right now if you hadn't forced me to face the fact that I was destroying my life out of guilt. Guilt that, because of a genetic fluke, I lived when everyone else died. Now it's my turn to pay you back. You need to give yourself permission to stop feeling guilty too. To stop punishing yourself for screwing things up before and to go after what you want."

"But..." Danny stopped, feeling like an idiot. "What are you saying?"

"I know that you bought a ring, Danny." Laura said bluntly, tossing back the rest of her wine. "And a week ago, I would have said yes. Because things between us, they're pretty good. But after seeing you at that ball, I started to think about what we we're really doing. And I realized that I can't marry you."

Danny stared at her. He might not be under some illusion that Laura was in love with him, but he certainly hadn't expected to be turned down. "What?"

Laura leaned across the table. "We were there for each other when we needed to be, Danny. And I do love you, in my own way. Maybe if things were different, that could become more. The way I imagine that Tex and Andrea fell in together."

Danny was surprised by her insight for only a second. "I care about you. I do."

"I know." Laura smiled, then she stood, crossing the kitchen to wash out her glass and set it to the side. "But the truth is that we would both be settling if we got married. You would always wish that I was Kara. And I would be giving up the chance of falling in love again. I think that eventually I would come to resent that."

Laura's logic was impeccable and yet...Danny shook his head. "You don't understand. Yes, Kara's alive, but that doesn't mean..."

"How hard did you try, Danny?" Laura raised an eyebrow. "When was the last time you talked to her? Really talked? Told her how you feel? I'm guessing never because, frankly, you rather suck at it."

Danny shook his head. "But..."

"No buts. Just do it already. Don't take no for an answer."

"You have heard about stalking, right?"

Laura rolled her eyes. "Cute, Green. But avoidance won't help. You should know that by now. It's been years."

Before Danny could respond, the apartment door opened and Tex's voice rang out.

"I had to get out of there. The woman insisted on wearing her Gutierrez jersey, the damn turncoat. I can't stand it when she..." Tex stopped at the entry to the kitchen, pizza box in one hand and six-pack in the other, taking in the scene before him. "Umm...I'll go outside and enjoy a drink ... or two.. maybe three?"

"No need, I'm just leaving." Laura stopped next to Tex, patting him on the arm. "Take care of our boy for me. Okay?"

Tex didn't hesitate. "You got it."

As she moved past Tex, Danny quickly followed. "Laura! Wait!"

She stopped just shy of the entrance and, for the first time, he noticed the grocery bag sitting next to his duffle. Containing the items that Laura typically left at his apartment. Her toothbrush, an extra set of clothes, extra glasses, a book he vaguely recalled seeing next to the bed. So few items. A reflection of how little they truly shared with each other, he supposed.

"Will you be okay?" It was the only thing that he could think of to say.

"I think I will." Laura smiled, gathering her things. "I'm actually kind of excited. I'm ready to get out there again. See what the world has to offer. Maybe even find another Mr. Right. And, if not, well, the Navy can't have a complete monopoly on hot guys."

He hesitated. "If you need anything..."

"I know." Laura reached up to kiss his cheek. "Life is giving you a second chance, Danny. Don't waste it."

Closing the door after Laura, Danny walked back to the kitchen, slightly dazed. Slipping back into a chair, he stared at Tex. "I just got dumped."

Tex cracked two beers. "You going to chase after her?"

Danny considered that for all of two seconds. "No."

Laura might have caught him by surprise, but she wasn't wrong. He _would_ always wish that she was Kara, and that wasn't fair to either of them but, especially, to Laura. He should have realized earlier what a mistake it would have been to be married, rather than letting himself float along, doing _what was expected_ rather than what he knew was right.

"Then she wasn't the girl for you, my friend. For the right woman, there's nothing you won't do." Tex took a swig. "Even tolerate the Yankees."

"Not sure I would go that far," Danny retorted, taking a sip of his beer, hesitating before adding. "Laura thinks that I should talk to Kara. Try to...fix things."

"Smart girl." Tex nodded. "That what you going to do?"

Danny considered everything that had happened in the last twenty minutes, his entire life had just been completely flipped and yet...he had never felt so certain about anything in his life. "Yeah, it is."

Tex grinned, rubbing his hands together and cracking his knuckles. "Then I think that it is time for you and Papa Nolan make a plan."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - just a drabble today. Inspired by MKS57. I do adore these two!

Alisha stalked into the small basement office where Val was working. The programmer _had_ a perfectly nice office on the second floor, complete with two windows and the most up-to-date equipment that money could buy. Yet she insisted on working here. A windowless closet where the ceiling barely cleared Alisha's head, the ceiling light flickered constantly, and everything smelled like mold. Val claimed that the office upstairs was too bright and they were too many people around for her to focus. But Alisha knew her well enough to realize this was Val's personal form of rebellion against "the man."

She tapped the manila folder that she was holding against her hand. "Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo? Really?"

Val jumped, evidently having been too involved in whatever she was doing - probably trolling the web - to notice her girlfriend arrive. She recovered quickly, batting her eyelashes at Alisha. "Too obvious?"

Alisha flipped open the folder to read the next set of names on the sheet she was holding. "John, Paul, George, and Ringo?"

"All solid, common names," Val avowed.

"Ringo?" Alisha challenged.

"Okay, so maybe not common here in the States but Wolf's got an accent," Val shrugged. "He could pull it off."

"Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny?"

"It _is_ hard to imagine Azima as a ginger," Val mulled. "You should probably knock that one off the list."

"Samantha, Carrie, Charlotte and Miranda?" Alisha continued, running her finger down the page.

"I guess Green might have trouble passing as a woman. That beard is out of control." Val gave an exaggerated shudder. When Alisha did not respond, simply tapping her toe, Val pushed back in her chair and crossed her arms. "I don't know what you people want from me. I told you that I wouldn't be any good at coming up with cover names."

Alisha pursed her lips. "You aren't _supposed_ to be coming up with cover names. You are _supposed_ to be using a randomizer to generate commonly used name combinations that won't draw notice."

Val rolled her eyes. "But that's so boring. Who wants to be Ryan and Susan when you can be Rhett and Scarlett? Sasha would make an _amazing_ Scarlett, by the way. Are you completely sure she's straight?"

"People who are going undercover do not want to be Rhett and Scarlett," Alisha replied, refusing to get distracted. "Are you trying to get them killed?"

Val scratched her chin as she considered the question. "Not Sasha or Azima. And Wolf's tolerable. I'm neutral on the whole keeping Green alive thing, to be honest."

But Alisha could see the smirk flickering across Val's face even in the dim lit room. She walked closer, running her fingers across the dirt on Val's desk. Seriously, this place was disgusting. "Where's the real list?"

Flashing her a grin, Val fished a file out of a stack from somewhere behind her and tossed it across the desk. She chuckled. "What gave it away?"

Alisha managed to keep a serious expression for only a minute before breaking into laughter. "Elsa, Anna, Hans and Olaf was too far, even for you."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - chronologically, this is pre-chapter 9 of Once in Forever. A little more Pablo for those who are interested. :)

"Been a long time since I was on a ship," Pablo said as Danny approached him on the deck. "Do they still keel-haul prisoners? Think I might be on the Captain's bad side."

Danny crossed his arms, annoyance warring with resignation. This, of course, was the problem with asking Pablo to do anything. He always came through, but he rarely followed directions. He was almost as irritating as Tex. "You were supposed to tell Kara about the plan before the news broke."

"Was I?" Pablo shrugged. "Must have slipped my mind."

"Don't play that game with me," Danny snapped. "I know you better than that."

Pablo was silent for a moment, before looking Danny straight in the eyes. "She needed to know what it was like."

Danny raised an eyebrow. He and Pablo went back a long time. Back to winter training, when they were both babies. Watching Pablo, a Texan, and Frankie, a SoCal boy, navigate six-foot snow drifts in the Sierra Nevada mountains had provided endless amusement. They shipped out together, the first time, crossing the Panama Canal lying on their stomachs on the carrier's deck, eyes glued to their scopes as they scanned the shore for potential threats. They served in the same squad in Iraq, sleeping back-to-back, guns never further than an arms length away, not knowing when the next attack might come as they pushed their way across the desert. And after that, of course, they were together in Nasiriyah. A defining moments in all of their lives.

Those who didn't leave in boxes, anyway.

Upon their return to the States, Danny and Frankie moved on to underwater demolition training and Pablo moved on to what he claimed was sniper school. The next time they ran into each other, deep in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan during an off-the-books mission, Danny quickly realized that there was no sniper school. Or, if there was, it was not the same training that Danny attended. A view that was only reinforced by the half dozen missions over the years where he and Pablo ran into each other. And while Danny had some idea of who Pablo actually worked for, he had almost no idea what the man had done since those long-ago days when their bond was forged.

Still, when push came to shove, Danny trusted Pablo the same way that he trusted Sasha or Carlton or Tex or Rick. Some bonds simply could not be broken.

Danny sighed, exasperated. "No, she didn't. Letting Kara see that news report was a dick move and you know it."

He thought about that day back in San Diego. The way Kara reacted when Danny found her among the boxcars, as if she had seen a ghost. Which, he supposed, was exactly how she must have felt, given that she had just watched a ship explode, having no reason to know that it wasn't the Nathan James. And then later, when she tracked him down after everyone was asleep - or at least leaving them alone - Kara had been almost frantic, as though she truly expected him to disappear at any moment.

Danny hadn't understood what it was like for Kara to see the decoy go down, to watch the smoking shell of the ship slide below the waves, believing that he was on board. Not really. Not until the day last year when he saw the breaking news about the sinking of the Nathan James at Mayfair. Because even while Sasha was explaining how implausible Tavo's claims were, the idea that he single-handedly took out the entire United States Navy preposterous, Danny could not stop picturing Kara's lifeless body floating unclaimed in the water.

Every report, every picture, every reference to Tavo was a physical blow to the gut until all Danny could think about was killing everyone responsible. Starting with Tavo himself. If it hadn't been for Pablo, the one who ultimately convince him that things were not what they seemed, Danny might just have tried.

"Look Green," Pablo began, before Danny cut him off.

"No, Kara didn't need to _learn that lesson_ because she learned it years ago," Danny explained. "If you don't believe me, ask Tex about San Diego. I know that the two of you are friendlier than you admit."

Apparently that was not what Pablo expected Danny to say. He saw the surprise that flickered across the other man's face. Pablo was good, he had to be to have survived as long as he had, but nobody could remain impassive all of the time. "San Diego? When you sank the Henan? I saw Nolan's report. No mention of Foster, though. Just some civilians he picked up on the road named Carys Forest and her daughter Catherine. Of course, Nolan never did follow the company guidelines. He's smart like that. Probably why he's still alive."

_Carys Forest?_ Danny made a note to ask Tex about that later. "I _promised_ Kara that I would never do that to her again. You fucked me over, man."

Pablo leaned against the guide-rail. "Whatever the two of you have going on is messed up. Seriously Green."

Unfortunately, Pablo wasn't wrong there. Danny sighed again. "I know. I'm trying to fix it."

"I hope that's she worth it."

Danny considered the few weeks. Even with Kara barely speaking to him for most of it, they were still some of the best weeks of his life. He found himself smiling. "She is."

"I did enjoy pushing her buttons. Foster's got spunk, I'll give you that." Pablo chuckled. "So, will I get an invitation to the wedding or am I person non grata?"

"Don't push your luck," Danny replied. Frankly, given how angry Kara was when the team retrieved her from the safe house, Danny wouldn't be surprised to see Pablo called in for a special review in front of the Secretary of the Navy himself. And there was little doubt about which side that Admiral Chandler would take in the skirmish, either. Still, Kara wasn't generally one to hold a grudge indefinitely. "Where exactly would I send that invitation anyway?"

"Send it to the usual place. It will get there." Pablo grinned. "Eventually."

At that moment, Carlton and Tex approached across the deck, followed by two enlisted men. Carlton nodded to Danny before focusing on Pablo. "Mr. Reyes, Captain Foster asked me to escort you to the RHIB and determine where you would like to be dropped off."

Pablo winked at Danny. "That sounds like my cue. Good luck with the fair Captain. Pretty sure that you're going to need it."

As Pablo followed Carlton, Tex took his spot by the rail. Danny glanced over. "Carys and Catherine Forest?"

Tex shook his head. "I might freelance for those people from time to time, but I sure as shit don't trust them. It helps to keep the names close. Easier to remember them later if need be." He paused. "Are you ever going to tell me what the deal is with you and Pablo? If you do, I promise not to lord it over Azima."

Danny chuckled, not believing Tex for a second. He would be unable to resist the lure of holding information over Azima's head. "We were at the Euphrates River together."

Tex mulled that over. "That was a bad one."

"Pablo was our radio operator. Air support didn't know we were there. He kept trying to call them off, tell them that they were hitting their own guys. You can imagine how that went." Danny turned to stare out across the water.

"Yeah," Tex replied softly.

Danny kept staring at the water as he continued. "We're the only two left from our squad now. I'm pretty sure that keeping me alive has become Pablo's personal mission."

They were silent for a moment before Tex nodded.

"You tell your boy that if he ever gets in a bind, he can give me a call." He made it about three steps before he stopped, and turned. "And who the hell knows. I might even give him an accurate report the next time he asks."


End file.
